Events

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O’dino – Traces of Contemporary Design

June 27 – July 27, 2009
Spoleto – Italy

O'dino exhibition - Credits: ADIFifty years ago there was no notion of designer goods, nor was the Italian Style such a big deal.

Then Dino Gavina, a cultural visionary and brilliant entrepreneur, put into mass production the designs for furniture made by Marcel Breuer, a member of the Bauhaus. For the first time the wider public had the chance to bring into their homes pieces that had been the exclusive privilege of a few people who could afford to purchase a unique handmade item, prized for the cachet of its designer’s name.

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Deruta – The Magic of Ceramic Art 2009

June 26 – July 12, 2009
Sept 12 – 20, 2009
Deruta – Italy

Italian Ceramics - Deruta: The Magic of Ceramic Art 2009 - Photo Credits: http://www.comune.deruta.pg.itThe second edition of Deruta Ceramic Festival is about to start. The program is attractive, not only for Italian pottery lovers, but for anyone who enjoys live shows and art in general.

The events will take place on Fridays through Sundays. Here is a selection:

ONGOING EVENTS: every Friday, Saturday, Sunday
Anyone willing to create his own ceramic masterpiece can join Deruta potters at the Open Ceramic Lab. From wheel throwing to freehand painting, visitors will experience the making of pottery and bring home their own solid ceramic pieces. The Lab is downtown in Piazza dei Consoli and is open from 11 am to 8 pm

Stands displaying Deruta artists’ works will be open all day in the main street of the old district

Exhibition of the 36 Italian Ceramic Towns Association (AICC) at Grazia’s Old Factory

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Riccardo Biavati – Art in the Garden 2009

Until October 30, 2009
Elba Island – Italy

Italian Ceramics - Horse with knight by Riccardo Biavati - Photo credits: Gulliver Art Gallery - Isola d'ElbaThe solo exhibition of Riccardo Biavati’s works will celebrate the 5th edition of Art in the Garden, a very original art event, indeed.

Biavati is one of the most poetic of Italian ceramic artists and the Elba Island is an ideal setting for his works. The natural and historical elements which are profusely to be found all over the island, the local tales and unique traditions are Biavati’s source of inspiration. His sculptures take from them their archaic symbols and speak the simple language of folks’ poems.

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Art through Fire – Luca Schiavon in Todi

April 4 – Mid June, 2009
Todi – Italy

Italian Ceramics - Work by Luca Schiavon - Photo Credits: www.exibart.comNo words need to be spent on the beauty of Todi, an old town nested on a steep hill not far from Perugia,  in Umbria. These days, however, there is one more reason to plan a visit to Todi: a fascinating combination of art and good food, meant to provide enjoyment to all the senses.

The main characters of the experiment are a restaurant, hosting the exhibition “Art through Fire”, an art gallery organizing the event and the outstanding ceramic works by Luca Schiavon.

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Nino Caruso donates 60 ceramic sculptures to Torgiano

Italian Ceramics - Sinulite by Nino CarusoOn March 13th a grand opening celebrated the permanent exhibition of 60 works by Nino Caruso, donated by the artist to the city of Torgiano (Umbria).

Caruso is Italy’s most renowned contemporary ceramic artist, internationally acclaimed both for his works and for his studies.

The collection is an ideal overview on his evolution as an artist since the Fifties, when he started to use traditional shapes – steles, columns, vases, oil lamps – as references for modern contemporary ceramic art.

In a very distinctive way, Nino Caruso breaks with Italian ceramic traditions while reflecting in his works a thorough understanding and appreciation of those traditions. Similarly, he embodies the European humanism while freely using forms and techniques from Japan such as haniwa and raku.

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Ugo La Pietra Art Ceramics in Castellamonte

March 7 – 30, 2009
Castellamonte – Italy

Italian Ceramics - Interno and Esterno (Inside and Outside) by Ugo La Pietra - Photo credits: Arte.go

“Terre e Territori” (Clays and Territories) promises to be an extremely interesting and rich exhibition, gathering more than 200 ceramic works signed by a man (and an artist, a designer, an architect, a great teacher, a journalist, a film director …) who stands out for his contribution to Italian Modern Art.

Since the 60’s he has been exploring the relationship between human beings and their environment and how it affects the evolution of the objects they use, the habits they develop, their perceptions of the space surrounding them, their communication.

Fascinated by visual media, be it new technology or traditional handcraftsmanship, La Pietra has used many of them to carry on his researches on everyday objects, to him useful functional tools, but also symbols of a specific decorative culture.

Pottery making has been part of his artistic evolution since the 80’s, when he started to work on the idea of a positive interaction between industrial design and the rich imagery of Italian ceramic craftsmanship. With very interesting results, indeed.

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Pottery in Raphael’s time

April 11-12-13, 2009
Urbania – Italy

An educational talk and guided tour will focus on the close relationship between Renaissance art in Urbino and Casteldurante pottery.

During the Renaissance the Duchy of Urbino, whom Casteldurante (now Urbania) belonged to, was known to be a most fertile background for Arts. The Dukes of Urbino ruled over a rich court, with broad cultural interests, that attracted a variety of artists.

Already well known in the previous centuries for their good quality earthenware production, after 1520 the local potters specialized in the making of istoriato majolica, that was to become a worldwide symbol of Italian Renaissance pottery. They were certainly encouraged by the enlightened attitude of the Dukes from Urbino and inspired by the success of the figurative painters working at Court.

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Ceramica del Ferlaro. Italian Pottery Makers since 1937

February 28 – March 8, 2009
Parma, Italy

Italian Ceramics - The Tahitienne by Maria Giulia Moncada di PaternòIn 1913, a young Sicilian noblewoman, Maria Giulia Moncada di Paternò, married the Marquis Giacomo Carrega-Bertolini and moved into his Villa del Ferlaro in Collecchio. She had learned some pottery making techniques in Sicily and she decided to make some pieces for her own pleasure. She was a gifted ceramic artist and her works were very much appreciated by her friends and visitors.

After the II World War she decided to change her hobby into an entrepreneurial activity. She hired young people from the neighborhood and personally trained them. They soon became the key to success of the newborn Ceramica del Ferlaro.

Maria Giulia’s last work is the “Tahitienne”, made in 1951. She left the management of the company to her son, who contributed to its growth with his open minded attitude towards contemporary art trends. He loved hunting and his passion inspired a successful collection of game pieces.

Famous designers and architects worked with Ceramica del Ferlaro in the Seventies. Their pieces are a valuable part of the historical collection of the company and sought after collectors’ items.

A special exhibition of pottery made by Ceramica del Ferlano from the 30’s to the 70’s will be held in Parma during the Spring edition of Mercante in Fiera, the international trade-fair of modernism, antiques, art and design.

Ceramica del Ferlaro
Fiere di Parma – Mercante in Fiera
Parma
Phone: 0039 0521 9961
Email: info@fierediparma.it

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Italian Ceramics celebrate Valentine’s Day

Save the date!!!
On February 14th the Museum of Ceramics in Deruta and Montelupo celebrate Lovers and the timeless (and inspired!) connection of Art and Love.

If Deruta is your choice, the rendez-vous is at 4 pm downtown, at the Regional Museum of Ceramics, ready for “Dulce est Amare”, a guided tour to the collection of Renaissance Love Cups that won this tiny village huge fame in the world.

The Love Cups – coppe amatorie, often decorated with beautiful women’s profiles, hearts, joined hands, were awesome Italian majolica wedding gifts very popular among wealthy families. The bride and the groom would  both drink from their customized cup on their wedding day and the groom would offer “confetti” (sugar coated almonds) from the Love Cup or Love Dish to all the guests.

If you’re more into Tuscan pottery, the Museum of Ceramics in Montelupo will welcome you with a “buy one ticket get one free” promotion and a sweet chocolate gift from 10 am to 6 pm.

Enjoy!

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Lucerna Circus – A Ceramic Oil Lamp Exhibition

February 7-17, 2009
Perugia – Italy

Frezzini&Zaganelli - Circo Lucerna e Romeo il clown - 2008Each year the Lungarotti Foundation harnesses the creative forces of important Italian artists to offer a new, creative vision of the oil lamp and its flickering light that accompanied the life of people for many centuries. Oil lamps have been used in Italy until the end of World War 1. They were usually made of clay and burned olive oil, that neither smells nor smokes.

This year the project was assigned to Stelio Zaganelli e Cristina Frezzini, two young designers from Umbria, assisted in the making of their works by the School of Ceramic Art Romano Ranieri in  Deruta.
In a brilliantly creative association of ideas, they have jumped from the magic of the olive tree and oil – almost sacred in Italy – to the magic of the Circus.

Inspired by the atmosphere of poetry surrounding the 19th century Circus, so close to human virtues and vices, their large ceramic oil lamps/sculptures represent the key characters of the Lucerna Circus:

Sissi, the slender and elegant dancer, always in the limelight, desperate for a loving soul to share her destiny with;

Filo, the slim funambulist, continuously challenging his records but depending on drugs to keep his pace steady;

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